I was trying to test my PCV valve and I tried to remove it, but the entire plastic valve snapped.



I just ordered a new one and I can pick it up tomorrow, but I have to drive to the dealership to pick it up. Is it safe to drive like this? How would I plug the hole left in the intake manifold? I read that the standard procedure of removing this valve for replacing was to simply pull it out of the hole, but that led to it snapping. What is the correct way to remove this and what is the correct way to place my new one back when I get it from the dealership?

 

Pretty sure you will be fine. Think the purpose of the clave is to just redirect gases in the crank case back into the combustion chamber to be burnt again. It might cause a vacuum leak. But again not 100% sure. Take it around the block and see if it runs the same.

 

It just pulls out and pops back in. It prob was never replaced so with the heat it became brittle. You should be fine running to get a new one.

 

Were you using the needle nose to remove it, or just to remove the pieces after it broke?

For something like that, the correct way to do it is to rotate it back and forth in it's grommet to loosen it, while gently pulling it out, but like junkie said, they get brittle over time.

 

First, I just used my hands to try to pull it out (like speedjunkie_g35 said) but since it was so brittle it broke in half. At that point I used the needle nose pliers to pull what was left out of both the bigger hose that goes through the IM from the bottom and the small hose that goes into the top of the IM.
I will do as you recommend, next time I encounter something less brittle. I think for this time I may have just tried to pull straight up and out too much without rotating. For the other end of the piece stuck inside the short hose, I did a lot of rotating with the pliers to get it out.

So the new one is definitely just going to pop right in, without giving me any problems?

 

Just plug the holes until you get the replacement. I can buy one for my Prelude or Civic at any local parts store for about $3.

 

If you don't cap the hole on the IM side, you're gonna have a huge vacuum leak. You can leave the block side open to atmosphere temporarily, but the manifold side is a problem.

 

I'm just going to be driving about 5 miles to the dealership. Will I be able to drive my car with the huge vacuum leak? I tried plugging the hose on the IM side but I do not have any caps that will fit.

 

Get some hose and plug the hose with RTV and a spare bolt.

 

I replaced mine a week or two ago, even i was extremely careful removing it and it cracked in half. Just be careful with the new on, its such a tight squeeze.
lined it up with the hole and while illuminating everything with a maglight i gently went around the edge with a flat head screw driver to push it in. then i put a just a little bit of pressure on the backside of it making sure it was snug and done.

I'm more then likely not going to ever replace it again just because i can't get my hand in there.

 

I wouldn't drive it like that. It'll run like *****, probably throw a code.

Get a ride.
Stick a bolt in the hose stub and secure with duct tape.
Clean off the red plastic stub of broken PCV (so tape will stick to it) and use duct tape to cover the broken end and then use that as a plug.
Use a kitchen knife to whittle a wooden plug out of a branch from the neighbor's tree.
Fold the hose stub over and clamp vice grips on the folded over end.
Cut off the corner of a shop rag and tightly wedge it into the hole and secure with duct tape.

Doesn't have to be a perfect hermetic seal, but you need to block most of the hole. In fact, the PCV itself actually provides a leak in normal operation, but it's a small leak.

Is there an aftermarket parts store closer than the dealer? I bet any chain store will have either Fram or Purolator on the shelf for a couple bucks.

 

I got a ride, and installed the new one without having to drive my car. I didn't want one from an auto parts store, because I only buy OEM. Everything seems good, now and my idle seems rock solid because I also cleaned the IACV while I was waiting for a friend to take me.

 

Glad you didn't try to drive it and cool that everything turned out as planned.

 

Its crazy those little valves make a huge difference! I had a b16a2 in my eg and it had a spiratic idle and I tried my iacv and tps and it still was all messes up. Once I replaced my pcv my idle was perfect.

 

The PCV is supposed to let a small, documented, well known, controlled amount of air into the intake manifold under most circumstances. If the amount of air it passes to the IM is outside what's expected (either too much, or too little), you can get problems.

 

My idle still drops very low randomly and only sometimes. I am pretty sure I do not have any vacuum leaks and my coolant levels are perfect. I have done a tune up about 1-2k miles ago, including plugs, wires, dist. cap and rotor, fuel filter; all OEM. What gives?

 

YOU DO NOT WANT TO CAP OFF THE BLOCK SIDE!!!! the crank case has to breathe. plug the intake manifold side and run it to a catch can .. I prefer that VS running all those oily vapors gumming your intake manifold up with oil sludge...

 

Yeah, I figured that out. I did not start up my engine without the PCV connected. I prefer using the OEM way as opposed to running a catch can because the PCV allows a controlled amount of air into the intake, like Long_Grain_Wild said.

 

Haha! Dunno. Mine's been doing the exact same thing and I was hoping that cleaning out the IACV would take care of it. But since you just did that and it didn't fix yours, my confidence has been shaken.

I'll let you know when I solve mine...

 

Sounds good. I can definitely feel the improvement of cleaning the IACV. My idle was never 'bad' but occasionally it would surge when warming up, which it does not do anymore since I cleaned it. We will see after driving it for about a month. Once in a while it will drop low randomly when I'm parking or getting out of a parking space, etc. I will let you know how much it continues to do this.

 

That's what mine does. Runs perfect most of the time with rock solid idle at normal RPM. Then sometimes randomly, I'll pull up to a traffic light and I can't hear the engine. Look down wondering if it's even still running and the tach is at like 300 RPM or so. Does that for a few minutes or miles and then goes away.

However, it doesn't stall and I'm amazed that it will actually succeed at idling that smooth at such a low RPM.

Since it doesn't stall and it does go away by itself, I've been ignoring it. Been meaning to clean the IACV, but always seem to have something else higher priority to work on.

 

I know the feeling!